Confessions from the Principal's Kid by Robin Mellom - ADVISABLE

Mellom, Robin  Confessions from the Principal’s Kid, 262 pages. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017.  $17. Content: G.  

Allie is a fifth grader at the same elementary school that her mom is a principal.  Sometimes being the principal’s kid has benefits, such as: knowing the secret paths throughout the school; being friends with the nice janitor; and being a part of the Afters, a group of kids whose parents are teachers and staff at the school.  But sometimes it’s not great being the principal’s kid because when Allie tells her mom about concerns at school, her mom/principal intervenes and the other students make fun of Allie.  Allie has to navigate through friendships and her mom’ job to learn to value her true friends.  

I enjoyed imagining what it would be like to feel like the school building was your second home.  Allie makes mistakes but she is a likable character and her quirky Afters friends are adorable and forgiving.  This is an easy book to recommend because it has a smooth story line and realistic characters.  

EL – ADVISABLE.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.